Research
Dissertation
The Politics of Killing: Silence, Failure, and Thresholds in Political Assassination
My dissertation examines political assassination as a strategic instrument of statecraft, tracing the decision points that surround its use. Drawing on quantitative methods and original data, the three papers form a unified argument: states choose targeted killing by weighing its downstream consequences, the risks of failure, and the conditions that push them past non-lethal alternatives.
When do states move from repression to killing? The first paper focuses on the triggers of escalation, examining the conditions under which states cross from non-lethal tools of repression to targeted killing as a strategy of political control.
How do societies respond after an assassination? The second paper examines the downstream effects of successful assassinations, asking how political violence of this kind reshapes social and political order in the aftermath.
What happens when an assassination attempt does not succeed? The third paper turns to failed attempts, analyzing how the survival of a target — and the exposure of state intent — affects political dynamics and the position of the would-be assassin.
Working Papers
- 1. “Coercion Without Borders: Interstate Collaboration, Infiltration, and Strategic Repression of Dissent Abroad”
- 2. “Signals of Strength: Do States Maintain Rivalries During Internal Instability?”
- 3. “A Volatile Electorate in a Small Democratizing State?”
- 4. “Strategic Democratization”
Publications
Book Chapters
Liu, Howard and Peldon, Deki. “Surveillance Studies.” In The Handbook of Political Control, edited by Jennifer Earl and Jessica Braithwaite, pp. 91–108. De Gruyter, 2025. DOI: 10.1515/9783111298559-006.
Grants & Awards
Grants and Fellowships
- Saperstein Symposium on the Science of Peace Fellowship, 2026
- Thurmond International Research Fellowship, 2026
- Faculty Research Fellowship, 2026
- Political Networks Conference Fellowship, 2025
- Smith Richardson Fellowship, 2024–2025
- Li-Ching Graduate Fellowship, 2024
- Bhutan and Himalayan Research Grant, 2021–2022
- Annual University Research Grant, 2021
Awards
- Department Award for Best Graduate Student, University of South Carolina, 2024–2025
- Department Prize for Outstanding Performance, Royal University of Bhutan, 2018–2022
- Outstanding Delegation Award, National Model United Nations, New York, 2017
- Outstanding Position Paper, Second General Assembly, National Model United Nations, New York, 2017
- Outstanding Delegation for UNHCR, Dayton Model United Nations, Ohio, 2017
Conference Presentations
- International Studies Association (ISA), Ohio, 2026 — Presenter
- Political Networks and Computational Social Science Conference (PolNet–PaCSS), Boston, 2025 — Presenter
- Carolina Conflict Consortium (CCC), Charleston, 2025 — Attendance
- Carolina Conflict Consortium, Boone, NC, 2023 — Presenter